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PlayStation Network Details
Gamasutra has details on the gaming network that will underpin the PlayStation 3 online offering. From the article: "Co-developed by Sony Online Entertainment, the company's MMORPG development arm, and GameSpy Networks, the PlayStation Network Platform will allow players to compete online even in its free iteration, unlike Xbox Live. Sony will enforce integrated online capabilities between games, but publishers will be free to run their own servers." The folks on the 1up podcast were just talking about this topic last week. I'm personally not sure 'free' is the way to go. I'm willing to pay if it means I'm getting a quality service. Obviously you'd prefer not to pay but if it means the difference between an unreliable service and one the quality of Xbox Live, are you willing to pay?
This is just ample warning that you may experience one or more of the following symptoms when using the Playstation Network:
I honestly hope that this Playstation network thing is done right. But then again
My work here is dung.
if it means the difference between an unreliable service and one the quality of Xbox Live, are you willing to pay?
IF? Why don't you wait to see what happens and then decide?
If paying works out better overall, people will be willing to pay. If it works out worse, they won't. WTF is the big mystery? We'll know the future when it happens.
but where is the playstation 3?
They called me mad, and I called them mad, and damn them, they outvoted me. -Nathaniel Lee
What the hell is the world coming to, when you announce something is going to be free, and people start whining that they want to pay for it? Big business has us well trained.
Maybe in some parallel universe where paying for something improves the quality of it, but here in the real world comapnies just do the minimum they need to muddle through, fee or no fee.
It's a tough debate. I like many would prefer to pay for a good service then receive a sub-par service for free. However, I'd also rather receive a crappy service for free then pay for it. Do you think the Playstation network will be good if it is subscription based? Then I for one don't mind paying for it...
LINUX ONLINE POKER: Linux Poker
Nintendos service is free. yes there is no voice chat during games. Metroid prime hunters has voice chat before and after the games. ITs an awesome service. Not all games use friend codes.Mario kart just assigns people to the game and it starts. If sony could even be remotely close to this then there shouldnt be a problem. Also Nintendo uses gamespy too.
The released information on the PlayStation Network Platform, states that a portion of the online service will be free, but not what portion. It may well be that it is just like xbox live, where you get everything but online play for free. Or, they might even charge for the voice chat (voip) and video chat. At this time, we don't know if you will be able to play for free. So the article is false at this time. On another note, what the hell is with the name. Talk about crappy branding. Playstation Network Platform. Talk about inaccessible. Even if it is a temporary 'code name' you would expect to have a more memorable name to generate more hype throughout the net and beyond. I guess not being able to use the word 'live' hit Sony hard, but they managed to fit that in as a major buz word for the console, where's the originality? Currently all Sony has is the Playstation brand, that is their strength, it's what they do best. They are dropping the ball...
With these new Next-gen sytems coming out their prices have taken a huge hike. $300-$400 for an Xbox360, estimated $500 for the PS3, granted the revolution is making a statement with their system estimated to go for $150 starting. However, there are many cross platform games. As a game developer unless you are getting huge incentives from Microsoft or Sony it only makes sense to build your game cross platform. A lot of games even have PC versions. With that said, we are starting to segment the multiplayer market. The PC multiplayer games have their own servers or server list environment. The Xbox has its Xbox Live which is not compatible with the PC multiplayer version, and finally we now have a Sony network which for obvious reasons is going to be incompatable with Xbox and probably the PC network as well. I'd like to see a cross-platform network, allowing the features of Xbox Live and/or Sony, but work for all the systems including Nintendo revolution. I would even be willing to pay for such a service. I've got friends who cannot aford the latest and greatest PC, and they really cannot afford the current prices of the console systems, but those are expected to go down at some point. To be able to play the latest games with them, with me on my home PC and them on their 360 or PS3 would be fantastic. But of course everyone is trying to dominate the market with their system and network.
Stop spreading lies, AC idiot.
My work here is dung.
How much is Sony paying Slashdot to keep their terminally delayed console in the Games section?! Just stop with the PS3 stories already! We know, Sony has a competitor to the XBox360 that was supposed to be released in a few months and has been delayed.
All these PS3 stories are just Sony propoganda to ensure that potential XBox360 customers will remember that "oh yeah, PS3 is coming" and wait for the PS3 instead of getting the next-gen console that *actually exists*.
Why don't we see Revolution stories every other Game story? I guess Nintendo isn't paying Zonk enough.
This may be some company's mentality, Sony being one of them, but really successful companies are those that balance quality with profit.
In a competitive market, you can sell the bare minimum and pull a profit. But say, add 200 man hours extra, add a few new creative feature, make it look appealing, and you will reap the benefits.
This is the reason Sony is barley pulling a profit based on their size, they are minimalists.
I'll give you a great example of paying for something makes it better. Free to air TV isn't as good as Cable, and you pay for cable.
Another way to look at paying for a service as a positive is the income source. Without the income from subscription, another income stream would be required. Imagine a game lobby with ads, the loading screen selling a produce: "This match brought to you by M&Ms..." and a ticker along the bottom of the screen with ads. Think it is extreme, remember, it is Sony we are talking about.
Microsoft has said it is possible to play over xbox live with a PC, but no developer has yet chosen to use it. They said it was a necessary feature for the japanese market, especially for MMOs, but with the lack of MMOs, the feature has yet to the see the light of day.
Being stationed in Germany, without any stateside addresses to reference, I'm stuck without Live, as they don't take overseas billing addresses. Or at least didn't several months ago before I got sent to the litter box.
If they can workout online entertainment that works regardless of location, I'm all for it, pay or no. If I can sit here in my tent and hook my PS3 into the net and game back with the states, more power to them. If not, then it doesn't really make much difference to me since I won't be back in the states until Sep '07.
Actually, with the way things are looking, the PS3 won't be out till then for us anyways...
From what I've read, the Playstaion OS is a distibution of linux made for the playsation interface including the software for the functions of the console. Don't think of it as a Desktop distribution of linux. You won't be able to tell it's linux. It's just like the xbox and xbox 360 os is a modified version of windows 2000.
I don't think there should ever be cross platform multiplayer, sure it segments things, but for good reason. Balance would be impossible in most genres. If i am on a PC, I am going to aim/move/play better or more accurately then someone with an XBox controller, using an optical mouse is faster then an analog stick. sure you can use an xbox controller in you computer with an adapter but no one i know has even considered doing this for anything but fighting games.
They wouldn't need to, only the xbox user would. I think that the balancing difference between a keyboard and mouse Vs controller is too great for most games. This difference would be less so in most MMOs.
will I be able to plan PNP on the PSP?
I'll give you a great example of paying for something makes it better. Free to air TV isn't as good as Cable, and you pay for cable.
That's a flawed comparison. FTA and paid cable/sattv are of very similar quality, but the paid-for systems deliver more films and premier events, simply because the channels have to pay the content providers big bucks for them.
Subscription TV pays for the extra media content, not for any extra quality.
You can see that easily in a channel's own productions, news reporting for example, documentaries, special-interest programming and niche events, etc etc, which are as good as on any paid service. In some ways, FTA content is of *higher* quality, since it can't afford and thus avoids a lot of the hyped (and thus mass-interest) downmarket rubbish that fills prime-time TV.
With XboxLive as a main selling point of the 360 I'm suprised Sony didn't just mimic every aspect of the system.
With a free system can you:
1) Download 500mb-1g demos
2) Download HighDef movie trailors
3) Send Voice/Text messages
4) Videoconference
5) Have a 'friends' list with friend leaderboards?
This sounds like what PS2 had - basically just a network connection and then each Developer could do whatever they wanted. Since they have to build most of the online system from the ground-up it makes each online game pure crap.
The article is talking about the "free iteration", so presumably there is also some "non-free iteration" that would have more premium services, if one so desired
Actually, as a game developer I'd be strongly tempted to keep developing for PS2.
Think about it. You know the toolset, you know the tricks. It has 62% of the total market, an enormous installed base. The graphics capabilities are impressive enough--think Ico, Burnout Revenge, Jak & Daxter, and remember that cutting edge next generation graphics are likely too expensive for you to develop anyway. There are existing libraries and engines you can license. And when the PS3 starts to sell, all the games will continue to run on that too.
I know that I continued buying and playing PS1 games after I got my PS2, and that was a much bigger jump in capability than from PS2 to PS3.
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
"Free online play is where Sony and Nintendo are at. Microsoft better scramble to come up with an answer."
I would rather have 8% of my customers paying me $5 per month than have 25% of my customers playing online when I have to pay for all the bandwidth, hardware, and development costs.
If the Live market place keeps doing as well as it is now I can see MS making it free to play games on live and the Market Place downloads paying for the upkeep.
YOU:The released information on the PlayStation Network Platform, states that a portion of the online service will be free, but not what portion. It may well be that it is just like xbox live, where you get everything but online play for free.
Umm...
FROM THE BLURB, NOT EVEN TFA:...the PlayStation Network Platform will allow players to compete online even in its free iteration...
First of all, most of these games are going to be peer-to-peer, so they only need a simple match-making service. Blizzard has shown with Battle.net (wc2, wc3, & sc) that it is possible to have a free match-making service.
Can you imagine my monthly bills if I had to pay for connection fees for a Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony console? I pay my internet bill, and that should be enough. I pay for WoW not just because I know MMO servers require a lot of bandwidth and computer power, but because they also deliver constant upgrades to the game; I will never pay for just a match-making service.
On a little side note: you will have to pay for Starcraft: Ghost on the XBOX, but not on the other two consoles; do you really believe that XBOX is just providing a more "reliable service"?
The problem with a totally free service is that there is no accountability.
In other words, when there is a fee (even small), it makes it way harder for griefers and cheaters to hide behind anonymity.
A great feature of XBox Live is that user profile is unique accross all the games and hard to alter.
Things turned sour on XBox Live when cheaters started using free 1 month trials to create disposable temporary accounts (and pretty much ruin Halo2 MP for everyone else).
I'm personally not sure 'free' is the way to go. I'm willing to pay if it means I'm getting a quality service. Obviously you'd prefer not to pay but if it means the difference between an unreliable service and one the quality of Xbox Live, are you willing to pay?
Well, any lingering hope that Zonk might not be a Microsoft shill just flushed noisily down the gurgler.
So Sony is now doing bad for offering a service for free huh? Talk about damned if you do...
Why not just ask "if paying money means the difference between an unreliable operating system and one the quality of Windows, are you willing to pay?"
"Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
Co-developed by Sony Online Entertainment, the company's MMORPG development arm, and GameSpy Networks
... and IGN will rave about it as if it were the second coming.
Well, now we know HUB is going to suck
This was not made by their game teams, so comparing this to their games is not relevant.
A more accurate comparison would be to look at something like EQ2 Players which tracks stats for players and guilds (both serverwide and worldwide). It keeps track of ranks, who's done what first, items, etc. It even provides templates and assets for, and hosts, guild websites and forums.
I think the weakness of the PS3 system is the freedom for individual games to host their own servers and set their own rules. One of XBLive's biggest strengths is the standardization, imo. You buy the game, you know what you're getting. With the PS3, that may not always be the case.
I...I'm attacking the darkness!
Unless you can pull fiber into the home, it all goes over the public internet. A more robust VPN protocol perhaps? Not likely.
...But I digress. TREMBLE PUNY HUMANS!ONE DAY MY SPECIES WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!
The "weaknesses" in the DS WiFi network are design choices on Nintendo's part, and may be different for the Revolution. With the services being developed by the same partners, and Sony looking to emulate Xbox Live (the only one developed without Gamespy's input it seems), it will be interesting to see how differently these two services turn out, or if there's very much difference between them at all.
I personally loathe gamespy, as a service and a program, not as a company, but DS Wifi play is quite fun, and costs me nothing. The network is very stable, and aside from a few issues caused by Nintendo themselves (such as accidentally sending an incomplete gift to Animal Crossing users that somehow blanked out a datapoint in your house) it has been flawless. I'm looking forward to how these 3 different online systems pan out, and whether there'll be a significant between them, or if an unified online network is just the price of entry this generation.
just some guy
then Xbox is a generation 2.5 console. If I only intended to buy one so called "next-gen" console, sorry to you and Zonk, I'd prefer to wait.
I'm not sure about cost meaning that the product or the quality of service being directly linked. I've payed for service from several companies for this quality and have still been berated by idiots who "pay to do this". I don't think its a matter of price = quality. Its more of a game balance and development limitations. Some how I don't think that games like Tony Hawk and Burnout will be so much better if you pay to play them online. My 2 cents and that's bout all I would pay for a console based service for online gaming. Why would I want to pay for a game I've purchased to play to begin with, now MMO's have a distinct advantage there as you're playing for support and quality of product not quality of patronage.